Sometimes I am not sure when to go snow shoeing or when to just hike... for example, Wednesday we went out on a rolling trail that is about 4 miles round trip. There is a hill climb of about 300 feet that adds another mile, but we skipped that part. I thought the conditions would be icy and not great and I was right. Both my husband and I felt like our snow shoes were lead weights on our feet and we were slogging up the little rollers. We should have just hiked.
Today we went on a different trail, and decided just to wear our hiking shoes. I have only been ons this trail twice, on my mtb and once walking, but not in the winter. The further we got into the woods, the more we began sinking into the snow. It made for some slow hiking and we only did 3 miles, stopping to eat lunch on a nice rock.
It has rained a bit over the snow pack and the conditions are hard to judge. Tonight it is supposed to rain hard, through tomorrow, so this will probably be my last snow shoe or x country ski for awhile...